Press Releases

RENOWNED MUSICIAN, PRODUCER JERRY BARNES JOINS AVATAR STUDIOS Creative Community Expands to Include Talented Songwriter

NEW YORK, February 25, 2003 - Renowned bassist, songwriter, and engineer/producer Jerry Barnes has joined the expanding creative community of AVATAR Studios, New York's legendary recording facility. Barnes will work on various projects in his new Studio H, located on the 3rd floor of the building, and utilize AVATAR's recording rooms as well as the professional in-house staff support, as necessary.

As a musician, Barnes has worked with recording artists such as Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan, Carly Simon, Bette Midler and Vanessa Williams. Barnes also is a prolific songwriter, often collaborating with his sister Katreese, a singer, songwriter and pianist who has been performing with the SNL band for the last year and recently toured with Sting. Together, the siblings have written songs for artists such as Chaka Khan, Roberta Flack, Tony Terry, Deodato, Gwen Guthrie and Chuck Mangione, and have also produced albums for some of these artists.

"Jerry's creative energy, and strong desire to write songs both individually and collaboratively adds another dimension to AVATAR's Creative Community," said Kirk Imamura, President of AVATAR. An equally upbeat Barnes stated: "The vibe here is great and infectious, and the staff is wonderful, helpful, and quite talented. I am very anxious to get started with my new projects."

Barnes' Studio H is essentially a project studio within a major studio. His room houses a Roland 2480, Soundelux U95, Avalon 737 pre-amp, Great River NV pre-amp and various other equipment, relocated from his home studio. Barnes points out: "For the serious artist, the practitioner can get results no matter where the work is done. However, the practitioner should also make every effort to listen to sounds in different environments and through a variety of high-grade equipment including large consoles and great acoustic live rooms found in studios. Without being exposed to different levels of sound quality, you may not be aware of or be able to judge the level of sound quality you are producing. Being in a large studio and mingling with other artists and engineers, the opportunities for exposure are virtually endless. Another bonus is the invaluable support that AVATAR's maintenance staff provides. Barnes admits that "it will be better for me at AVATAR on many levels and I can't wait to get started."

AVATAR Studios is a 33,000-square-foot multi-room facility on Manhattan's west side dedicated to providing the highest possible quality audio recording services to the recording industry. The studio houses four premier recording rooms containing Neve 8068, two SSL 9000Js and a Neve VRP. The four rooms are equipped with four ISDN lines per room and a remote recording session can be set up at a moment's notice. In addition, AVATAR has a Pro Tools editing suite available and has the ability to track directly to the DSD format.

For booking information, please contact: Studio Manager Tino Passante at Tel: 212.765.7500, Fax: 212.765.7450, or E-mail: tino@avatarstudios.net. Website: www.Avatarstudios.net